Description

Sadly, De Culinaire Werkplaats is closed, due to personal circumstances.

De Culinaire Werkplaats is not (just) a vegetarian restaurant; it’s an eating experience and is a blend of a design studio and a restaurant for contemporary food and eating concepts. The wonderful experience we had, already started when the owners and inspirers, Marjolein and Eric, greeted us personally at the door. Slightly difficult was the part at the end of the evening when we had to decide how much we thought the meal was worth. We did managed to come up with a price, even though the experience is actually priceless.

Conceptual eating experience inspired by themes

The “eat’inspiration” – as they call it – consists of 5 dishes: three savoury dishes, and two more sweet dishes. These dishes are an interpretation of regularly changing inspirational concepts. The concepts have themes such as “Black” (their first theme) or “Flowers”. The former could be a menu with only black coloured dishes and the latter dishes with and/or inspired by flowers.

The first time we came to De Culinaire Werkplaats (The Culinary Workplace) the theme was Vincent van Gogh. Black potato, baked in a jacket of clay that we had to peel off ourselves, with beetroot, black carrot and black beans, represented Vincent’s early ‘darker period’. His Japanese period was visualised by colourful sushi made of pumpkin, white beans and sushi rice. And so on… Every dish was not only creative in presentation, but also in the combination of wonderful textures and above all: tastes. We do like our meat, but definitely didn’t miss it this evening. Mission accomplished for De Culinaire Werkplaats, I would say.

Unique experience in a unique restaurant

An evening at De Culinaire Werkplaats is a real adventure. A food adventure. The restaurant is one big open space where the kitchen is literally part of the restaurant. The creativity of Marjolein and Eric seems limitless. The food is delicious and surprising in taste and texture. The presentation is also quite surprising and beautiful. Drinks are reasonably priced. The dilemma comes at the end when you decide yourself, how much you want to pay for the eat’inspiration. How do you reward a unique experience?

This vegetarian restaurant/concept studio won several awards and got mentioned in many magazines and sites around the world. Their choice of ingredients, products and suppliers are based on animal welfare, small-scale or organic farming, Fair Trade, season and personal health.

Original food workshops for home cooks

De Culinaire Werkplaats organises workshops for creatives, professionals and home cooks. The mini workshops for home cooks are given for 2 to 4 persons. In these workshops you learn a few basics, for instance how to chop vegetables like a professional. These mini food workshops at De Culinaire Werkplaats, are a wonderful way to do something original, when visiting Amsterdam.

De Culinaire Werkplaats is located close to culture park Westergasfabriek. I advise to make a reservation in advance, as they are only open on Fridays and Saturdays, they have limited seating and the concept is very popular.

Conscious and creative vegetarian dining

De Culinaire Werkplaats is completely vegetarian. They also use a lot of seasonal and local products from small-scale and/or organic farmers. This contributes to the 2 rating that we gave them for environmental consciousness. They told us that they do not necessarily focus on incorporating sustainable measures for running the restaurant.

As a vegetarian restaurant, De Culinaire Werkplaats is very conscious on animal welfare.

About the AuthorJoshua

I am very sensitive to atmosphere and service. Service that I call “personable & professional” will definitely give a company many credits. I am still learning every day about how to live a conscious lifestyle. With my contribution for Conscious Travel Guide I hope to help you learn more about it too. Photo by Odette Li Corbett